[News from Institutions]Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA) present the debut co-organised “Tradition in the Future—GAFA Cultural Innovation Design Exhibition”

Encouraging emerging designers to jointly develop a Cultured Greater Bay Area through the integration of traditional cultural features and creative designs

Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA) present their debut co-organised “Tradition in the Future—GAFA Cultural Innovation Design Exhibition” from now until 29 April 2024, showcasing 42 sets of groundbreaking designs and cultural projects from GAFA. These designs demonstrate how emerging designers integrate traditional cultural features with creative designs, as well as their reflections on cultural inheritance and development. The exhibition marks the inaugural close-knit collaboration between the two leading design institutes in the Greater Bay Area following their memorandum of cooperation, which will further deepen and facilitate exchanges of new generations of designers across the regions.

This exhibition showcases outstanding designs from GAFA's School of Visual Arts Design and the School of Industrial Design in the academy's thematic Exhibition “Innovative LingNan”. The selected works in the forms of graphic design, product design, animation and IP design, interactive design and digital media art design explore Lingnan culture from a multi-dimensional perspective. Through innovative thinking, these designs manifest the unique cultural features and humanistic spirit of the Greater Bay Area, guiding the audience to delve deeper into tradition, pay close attention to the present and envision the future. The exhibition also features lectures for sharing and discussions on 20 February, where the visitors can have a deeper understanding of the artworks' narratives.

Create a humanistic bay area with innovative design and re-interpret traditional concepts

With a strong and distinct cultural history, the Greater Bay Area has close geographical and transportation connections, as well as a rich and diverse range of cultural forms. Based on the research on traditional culture and the integration of current trends, young designers in the Greater Bay Area create artistic works that align closely with contemporary aesthetics and values. The brand design Hello, sea. research on Tai O's traditional fishing and tourism, and employ the most popular seafood among tourists as the brand image element for innovative design, which attracts younger generations to understand the traditional fishing village culture. 

The communication design project titled Canton Porcelain × Emoji New Century Creative Pattern Design is based on the research of Canton porcelain plate pattern—a national intangible cultural heritage—and integrates the unique narrative of such traditional patterns with emojis in new era of social media, creating a series of experimental works that brings pleasure for audience's interpretation. 

Integration of Greater Bay Area's natural landscape into design

The extensive and profound Lingnan culture encompasses its unique natural scenery. In today's era of rapid technological development, teachers and students of GAFA integrate the natural landscape of the Greater Bay Area into various designs. This allows the public to appreciate the stunning panorama of the Greater Bay Area at all times.

The lamp piece Growing-Lamp Design, extracting the common motifs from the intangible cultural heritage of Cantonese embroidery like peacock and plantain, not only exhibits strong and natural characteristics of the Greater Bay Area, but also preserves distinct stitching features of Cantonese embroidery, creating multi-functional chandeliers, floor lamps and table lamps among others.

The digital work Danqing Lingnan, which combines AI, naked-eye 3D display and other technologies, integrates the style and characteristics of the Lingnan School. This immersive experience makes the audience feel as if they have stepped into a dynamic landscape painting, allowing them to appreciate the breathtaking scenery of green mountains and grass, clear water and blue sky.

In-depth study of the martial arts culture in the Greater Bay Area

Wing Chun is also a significant component of the Greater Bay Area culture well-known to Hongkongers. Lecturers and students from the School of Visual Arts in GAFA have visited three intangible cultural heritage martial arts bases, including the MAI GEI WONG Wing Chun of Guangzhou, Beisheng CaiLiFo Boxing of Guangzhou and Guangzhou JuYing Hongquan martial arts Hall, where they recorded Martial Arts Photography and conserved precious imagery materials and information.

The work Lingnan Martial Art IP Design·Mi Gei Wong WingChun Family integrates the four stages of WingChun, including Twelve-Road Sanshou, Siu Nim Tau, Chum Kiu and Biu Tze. It also incorporates the belt culture brought by Mi Gei Wong into the IP design to create a unique IP image, allowing the public to understand Lingnan martial arts feature.

Through the “Tradition in the Future—GAFA Cultural Innovation Design Exhibition”, the public can discover more of the thoughts of young designers in the Greater Bay Area on cultural inheritance and development. Exhibition details are as follows:

About Hong Kong Design Institute 

Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) is a member of VTC Group. HKDI was established in 2007 with the mission to be a leading provider of design education and lifelong learning, including architecture, interior and product design, communication design, digital media, and fashion and image design. With a view to providing professional designers for the creative industries, it promotes the “think and do” approach and encourages interdisciplinary synergy in its broad range of design programmes that cultivates students’ cultural sensitivities and sense of sustainability. HKDI maintains a strong network with industry and provides its students with essential practical experience. Overseas exchanges are actively arranged for students to broaden their international perspective.  

Website: www.hkdi.edu.hk

About HKDI Gallery

HKDI Gallery is a dynamic exhibition arm of HKDI, which is dedicated to present the exposition of cutting edge, top-notch international exhibitions and contemporary issues on design. In addition, HKDI Gallery also aims to support HKDI as one of the centres of design education in the region and promote design culture in Hong Kong. 

HKDI Gallery engages with parties at home and abroad, including internationally acclaimed museums, designers and curators. With contemporary design as the cornerstone, it presents a series of top-notch exhibitions every year ranging from; graphic design, architecture, fashion, product design, multimedia and so on. This has included the following; exhibition for Zaha Hadid Architects, the retrospective for the Pritzker Prize-winning Spanish architect Rafael Moneo, the solo exhibition for the renowned Japanese designer Dai Fujiwara, the solo exhibition for the Oscar-winning artist Tim Yip, the retrospective for Hong Kong design legacy Kan Tai-Keung, the Asian debut largest solo exhibition for one of the most influential German industrial designer Konstantin Grcic and the exhibition of Japanese posters in 20th century, etc. 

Through international exhibitions, HKDI Gallery turns itself into an education venue where design students, design community and general public can learn from the masters’ works. It also actively engages with institute’s students and external students with tailor-made tours, talk and panel discussions. 

Website: www.hkdi.edu.hk/hkdi_gallery  

About Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts 

Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, located in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, is the only higher fine arts institution in South China approved by the Ministry of Education and one of the eight fine arts academies in China.

About School of Visual Arts Design, GAFA 

The School of Visual Arts Design was established in September 2010 through the merger of the Decoration Department, which had a long tradition, and the emerging Digital Art Design Department. In November 2018, the Art and Technology Program was incorporated into the school. Currently, the school offers four undergraduate programs: Visual Communication Design, Animation, Digital Media Art, and Art and Technology.  At present, it also provides master's and doctoral degree education.

About School of Innovation Design, GAFA

The School of Industrial Design was established in September 2010 and currently offers seven undergraduate programs: Industrial Design, Product Design, Intelligent Interaction Design, Art Design, Dyeing and Weaving Art Design, Clothing and Apparel Design, and Clothing Design and Engineering. Its teaching and research framework consists of five departments: Industrial and Interaction Design, Product Design, Art Design, Dyeing and Weaving Art Design, and Clothing Design, along with four research institutes: Furniture Design, Design Perception, Design Psychology, and Human Factors Engineering.

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